Typist&#39;s rule



Patented Mar. l1, 1952 Dallas B'Driskill' and Joseph 1W." Driskilli.- San Francisco, CaliL' v 2 Claims.

11i This invention relates to ruleswhich may be used by typsts and stenographers and partlcularly.; to that type ofrulebyfwhich suchtypistor stenographer may calculate thespaceV available.

for further.- typing upona sheet of paper without 'l changing its position in the typewriter.

It isgwell known that stenograph-ers and typists. inthe interestof heat, wellspaced and welllcentered work mustbe-ablelproperly to position-the body of the typed material upon the page upon which it is typed. To this end some stenographers and typists mark lightly in pencil on one of the margins of the sheet near the bottom thereof so that as the sheet is wound upward from the platen, the stenographer knows when she is approaching the bottom of the sheet. However, it

will be appreciated that such markings are unattractive and must be removed. Frequently they are not applied and, therefore, are of no benet.

It is an object of this invention to provide -a device which may be used by a stenographer or typist upon paper of any length whereby she may determine the distance from the last line which has been typed to the bottom of the paper which, it will be understood remains concealed by the platen and the remainder of the typewriter.

It is another object of this invention to provide such a device which may be used in conjunction with any type of typewriter and with any length of paper.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device of this character which need not be a part of the machine but which may be portable and used by a number of stenographers.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l represents a. front elevational view of a typists rule incorporating our invention;

Figure 2 represents a side view of the device as illustrated in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 represents a further view of the device as illustrated in Figure 2 in which the apparatus has been properly positioned with respect to a typewriter, a portion of which is illustrated in cross section.

As illustrated in Figure 1, our device consists generally of a rule I which may be made of metal, plastic or other suitableirnateri-al, it being essential only that the material from which it is made be durable and capable of being formed to provide an arcuate portion II at one end, as illustrated in Figure 2. Suitable measuring indicia may be placed thereon as" indi'c'atedi in Fi'gurewl: It willbel noted*` that oneced'geof-'the' member.Y IU is-provided1with a substantially conventional-inch rule and; inthe preferred embodiment; thatfitfis thirteen inches-` long;l this' beingl consideredvd' sirable-to providefor-socalldr""legal size`^paper` which may be used. Itwillialso beinotedjthatjth"ee device may be usedwith shorter papeir'as; for example, thef so-calledi` letters sie!" which is eleven inches long. The other edge of the member I0 is provided with a plurality of indicia as indicated which areof different lengths. Each of the indicia indicates a so-called single space upon a typewriter and the alternate longer indicia indicate so-called double spaces upon the typewriter.

As illustrated in Figure 2, the device is provided with an arcuatev section II near one end and an outwardly extending foot portion I2.

The arcuate section II is formed on a radius of a conventional platen I3 about which paper may be wound upon the typewriter. The foot I2 is adapted to engage an inmovable portion of the typewriter immediately adjacent that portion on the paper or the platen where the type is struck so that the foot I2 is in the same lateral plane, when the device is used as illustrated in Figure 3, as the bottom edge of the typed material on the page.

Operation of the device may briey be described as follows: Let it be assumed that the piece of paper I4 has been positioned in the typewriter around the platen I3. It will be obvious that as the platen is wound in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3, the paper will be fed under the platen, under the immovable portions of the typewriter I6 past the point at which the type strikes and upward into view of the stenographer or typist. However, the bottom of the sheet is concealed by the typewriter and the upper portion of the sheet I4, rendering it necessary for the stenographer to guess, in the absence of some indicia, as to the distance remaining between the point at which the type bar strikes the paper and the lower end of the paper.

Our device I0 may be positioned with the foot I2 engaging the immovable portion I6 of the typewriter and held upwardly generally in the position illustrated in Figure 3. The visible portion of the paper I4 may then be brought into contact with the device I0 in such a manner that the stenographer or typist. will know the exact distance remaining between the point at which the last line of type is placed upon the paper and the lower end of the paper or, that portion of the paper which is concealed.

In actual operation let us assume that the top edge of the paper I4 comes to the numeral 1 as indicated in the dotted line in Figure 1. If the stenographer is using paper which is eleven inches in length she will know that there are four inches remaining. If, on the other hand, she is using thirteen inch paper, she will know that there are six inches remaining.

It will be appreciated that our device may bear various indicia. For example, the numbers on the ruler portion thereof may be reversed. In such event the numeral 1 would occupy the position now occupied by the numeral 12 and vice versa. It is also to be understood that the stationary portion I 6 of the typewriter as illustrated in Figure 3 will vary in shape and construction upon various makes of typewriters and we do not intend to be limited to the precise typewriter coni struction illustrated herein.

It is obvious, therefore, from the foregoing that We have prepared a simple type of apparatus and device which may be utilized for a number of ofce purposes between that of letter opener, line marker, etc. as well as a ruler particularly adapted for use with a typewriter.

We claim:

1. In a typists rule, an elongated flat member provided with measuring indicia, a curved portion adjacent one end of said rule, an oiset foot extending outwardly from said curved portion, the radius of said curved portion being the same as the radius of a conventional typewriter platen, said member being adapted to engage said platen and one of the stationary portions of a typewriter adjacent said platen.

2. In a typists rule, an elongated at member provided with measuring indicia having a curved portion adjacent one end of said rule, and an oilset foot extending outwardly from said curved portion, the radius of said curved portion being equal to the radius of a conventional typewriter platen, said curved portion being adapted to en- Y gage said platen and said foot being adapted to engage the stationary portion of a typewriter adjacent said platen.

DALLAS B. DRISKILL. JOSEPH W. DRISKILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 27,464 Moser Mar. 13, 1860 1,102,771 Loughlin July 7, 1914 

